1° The person of the prophet. — His Hebrew name, Yoel, is a contraction for Yehovah'el, Jehovah is God, or, He of whom Jehovah is God. He was, as he himself says (1, 1), son of Phatuel (Hebrew, Petû'el), a completely unknown character. It is morally certain that Joel belonged to the kingdom of Judah, and that he resided in Jerusalem. He makes no allusion whatsoever to the schismatic kingdom of the ten tribes (if he mentions the name of Israel three times, 2:27 and 3:2:16, it is always in a general way, to designate the entire theocratic nation); on the contrary, he frequently speaks of Zion, of the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem (cf. 2:1, 15, 23, 32; 3:1, 6, 8, 16, 17, 18, 20, 21), of the temple and the worship offered there to God (cf. 1:9, 13; 2:14, 17; 3:18).
It has sometimes been claimed that he was a priest, because of the importance he attaches to religious ceremonies and sacrifices (cf. 1:13-14; 2:15-17); but this fact proves nothing in that regard. It is as a prophet, and not at all as having any authority in the sanctuary, that Joel preaches fasting and penance.
2° The era in which he lived. — «His prophecies are not dated; but we can consider them certain to be the oldest that have come down to us. Here is the reason for this conclusion. 1. They predate Isaiah. The latter, in fact, had the writings of Joel before him: this is evident from the statement in chapter 13, verse 6, of the great prophet, where we find a phrase from Joel 1:15 reproduced verbatim. 2. Amos also imitated him. He borrowed the first words of his prophecy (cf. Amos 1:2 and Joel 3:16); and what proves that it is Amos who borrows is that these words, in Joel, clearly belong to the context…(compare also Amos 9:13 and Joel 3:18).” Joel is therefore earlier than Amos, whose writings are dated to the reign of Uzziah of Judah, and Jeroboam II of Israel.
«But how long before Amos did Joel prophesy? This can only be determined with any probability through an intrinsic study of his prophecy. Among the enemies of his people whom God will one day punish, Joel names Egypt, Idumea, Tyre, Sidon, and the Philistines. He makes no mention of the Syrians, later threatened by Amos (1:3-5) with deportation to Assyria because, led by their king Hazael, they had campaigned against Jerusalem after capturing Geth during the reign of Joash (cf. 2 Kings 12:18 ff.; 2 Chronicles 29:23 ff.). If Joel does not mention them, it is likely that this omission stems from the fact that he wrote before the Jews had cause to complain about them; Similarly, the omission of the Assyrians and Chaldeans is explained by the fact that these two peoples only threatened the children of Jacob at a later time. We are thus led back to the reign of Joash for the date of Joel, and other evidence confirms our opinion that it was under this king, and under this king only, before Hazael's campaign, that he prophesied: 1) He does not speak out against the sins caused in Judah by Assyrian power, the subject of complaints from Hosea and Amos; 2) nor does he attack the idolatry to which the people abandoned themselves under Joram, Ahaziah, and Athaliah; 3) on the contrary, he assumes that God is faithfully served. These are all traits that are only appropriate to the early days of King Joash, a time when the Jewish religion, under the influence of the high priest Jehoiada, flourished in all its splendor.Biblical Man, (Vol. 2, no. 1072. Joas reigned from 878 to 856 BC)
The style, which is admirable and universally praised, also testifies to the golden age of Hebrew literature ("The purity of language, the regularity in parallelism, the poetic elevation and the vividness of the color, all assign to Joel one of the first ranks in prophetic literature").
3° The subject and division of the book. — The prophecy of Joel forms a perfectly unified whole. Its starting point is a double plague that was then ravaging the kingdom of Judah: a locust plague and a drought. In response to these calamities, the first of which, being the most disastrous, is described at length and in magnificent detail, Joel exhorts the priests to order fasting and prayer throughout the land. Then, he suddenly announces that God, moved by compassion, will soon put an end to the two plagues and grant his people rain and bountiful harvests. However kindness The Lord's blessing will not stop at this first act. The fertilizing rain will be followed, in the unspecified future, by an abundant outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Furthermore, the terrible day of God's vengeance will break forth against the pagan nations that had allied themselves against the theocratic people. These nations will be defeated and crushed, while Judah, completely reborn, will see its God reign eternally and peacefully in Zion. Such is the subject, the horizon of which is ever receding.
The book is divided into two parts, which the prophet himself marked with a short historical note (2, 18-19hasThe first part, 1:1–2:17, contains a discourse filled with plaintive exhortations. It is an invitation to repentance, on the occasion of the two plagues that afflicted Judah. The second part, 2:18–3:21, contains a discourse full of promises, which foretells many temporal and spiritual favors for Zion, and all kinds of evils for its enemies (the Hebrew text has been divided into four chapters instead of three. The second ends after 2:27 of the Vulgate; the third corresponds to 2:28–32; the fourth, to chapter 3).
4. The Book of Joel holds particular importance for Israel and the Church. The Jews are consistently portrayed as God's people, who will be filled with blessings of every kind if they remain faithful to God. Once this condition is met, even if they suffer momentarily and are nearly ruined by the pagan nations, their trials will be only temporary; happiness will be restored to them in every form, and they will become the nucleus and center of a theocratic kingdom as vast as the world and without end. To the Church, he promises the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, and he describes with incomparable magnificence the general judgment of the end times (cf. 2:30 ff.): a picture to which he reduces almost everything in his prophecy (cf. 1:15; 2:1-2, 10-11, 31; 3:1 ff.).
The best Catholic commentaries are: in antiquity, Theodoret of Cyrrhus, Narrations in duodecim Prophetas and Saint Jerome, Commentaria in Prophetas minores. In modern times: F. Ribera, In librum duodecim Prophetarum commentarii, Antwerp, 1571; Sanchez, How. In Prophetas minores and Baruch, Lyon, 1621.
Joel 1
1 The word of the Lord that came to Joel, son of Phatuel. 2 Listen to this, you elders; give ear, all you inhabitants of the land. Has anything like this happened in your days, or in the days of your fathers? 3 Tell the story to your children, and your children to their children, and their children to another generation. 4 What the caterpillar left, the grasshopper devoured; what the grasshopper left, the locust devoured; what the locust left, the cricket devoured. 5 Wake up, you drunkards, and weep; all you wine drinkers, wail because of the new wine, for it is taken from your mouths. 6 For a people has come up against my land, powerful and innumerable; their teeth are the teeth of lions and they have the jaws of a lioness. 7 He devastated my vineyard and broke my fig tree in pieces; he peeled them completely and cut them down; the branches turned completely white. 8 Grieve like a virgin clothed in sackcloth, to mourn the husband of her youth. 9 Offerings and libations have been cut off from the house of the Lord; the priests, ministers of the Lord, are in mourning 10 The fields are ravaged, the ground mourns; for the wheat is destroyed, the new wine is in confusion, the oil languishes. 11 Be ashamed, farmers, and wail, vinedressers, because of the wheat and barley; for the harvest of the fields is destroyed. 12 The vine is in confusion and the fig trees languish; the pomegranate tree and also the palm tree and the apple tree, all the trees of the field are withered; joy She withdrew, confused, far from the children of men. 13 Priests, gird yourselves and raise your voices in lamentation; wail, you ministers of the altar. Come, spend the night in sackcloth, you ministers of my God, for the offering and the drink offering are withheld from the house of your God. 14 Declare a fast, call a meeting; gather the elders, all who live in the land, into the house of the Lord your God, 15 and cry out to the Lord, «Ah, what a day!» for the day of the Lord is near. It will come like destruction from the Almighty. 16 Wasn't the food taken away right before our eyes, as well as joy and the joy of the house of our God? 17 The seeds have dried up under the clods of earth, the granaries are empty, the barns are falling into ruin, because the wheat has run out. 18 As the beasts groan, the herds of cattle are dismayed, because they have no pasture; even the flocks of sheep suffer. 19 I cry out to you, Lord, for the fire has devoured the pastures of the desert, the flame has burned all the trees of the fields. 20 Even the wild beasts sigh for you, because the streams of water have dried up and fire has devoured the desert pastures.
Joel 2
1 Blow the horn in Zion and sound the trumpet on my holy mountain. Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the day of the Lord is coming, for it is near. 2 A day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and dark clouds. Like the dawn spreading over the mountains, a people is coming, numerous and strong, such as there has never been since the beginning and will not be after them, until the years of the most distant ages. 3 Before him the fire devours and behind him the flame burns. The land is like the Garden of Eden before him and behind him, a desolate desert: nothing escapes him. 4 Its appearance is like that of horses, and they run like riders. 5 We hear a sound like chariots leaping over mountain peaks; it is like the sound of a flame of fire devouring stubble; it is like a robust people drawn up in battle array. 6 Before him, the people tremble with fear, all faces turn pale. 7 They run like heroes; they scale the wall like warriors; they each walk in their own paths, they do not confuse their roads. 8 They do not push one another, each goes his own way; they rush through the arrows and they do not break ranks. 9 They spread throughout the city, they run along the wall, they climb into the houses; they enter through the windows, like a thief. 10 Before him the earth trembles, the heavens shake, the sun and moon darken, the stars lose their brightness. 11 The Lord raises his voice at the head of his army, for his camp is immense, for mighty is the one who executes his word. For the day of the Lord is great and very dreadful, and who can endure it? 12 But even now, declares the Lord, return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with tears and with mourning. 13 Rend your hearts and not your garments, and return to the Lord your God, for he is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and he grieves over the calamity he sends. 14 Who knows if he will not return and repent and leave behind him a blessing, an offering and a drink offering for the Lord our God? 15 Blow the trumpet in Zion, proclaim a fast, call a meeting. 16 Assemble the people, proclaim a holy convocation, gather the elders, and bring together the children and infants at their breasts. Let the bridegroom leave his chamber and the bride her bridal canopy. 17 Let the priests, ministers of the Lord, weep between the portico and the altar and say: «Lord, spare your people and do not make your inheritance a reproach, an object of scorn to the nations. Why should they say among the peoples, »Where is their God?’” 18 The Lord was moved with jealousy for his country and he had compassion on his people. 19 The Lord answered and said to his people: Behold, I will send you grain, new wine and oil, and you will be satisfied with them, and I will no longer make you a reproach among the nations. 20 I will drive the one who comes from the north far from you and will drive him into a dry and desolate land, the vanguard toward the eastern sea, the rearguard toward the western sea; from there will arise a foul stench and a stench, for he has done great things. 21 Earth, do not be afraid, be glad and rejoice, for the Lord has done great things. 22 Do not be afraid, beasts of the field, for the pastures of the desert have turned green again, for the tree bears its fruit, the fig tree and the vine yield their riches. 23 And you, children of Zion, be glad and rejoice in the Lord your God, for he has given you a teacher to instruct you in righteousness, and he sends down showers for you, autumn rains and spring rains, as before. 24 Your barns will be filled with wheat and the vats will overflow with new wine and oil. 25 I will compensate you for the years devoured by the grasshopper, the locust, the cricket and the caterpillar, my great army, which I had sent against you. 26 You will eat abundantly and be satisfied, and you will praise the name of the Lord your God, who has done marvelous things for you, and my people will never again be put to shame. 27 And you will know that I am in the midst of Israel. I am the Lord, your God, and there is no other, and my people will never again be put to shame.
Joel 3
1 And after this, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. 2 Even on the male and female servants, in those days, I will pour out my spirit. 3 I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and columns of smoke. 4 The sun will turn into darkness and the moon into blood, before the coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord. 5 And whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved, for on Mount Zion and on Jerusalem there will be a gathering of the saved, as the Lord has said, and among the survivors whom the Lord calls.
Joel 4
1 For behold, in those days and at that time, when I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem, 2 I will gather all the nations and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat, and there I will enter into judgment with them concerning my people and my heritage of Israel, whom they scattered among the nations, and my land, which they divided up. 3 For they cast lots on my people; they gave the young boy for a prostitute and they sold the young girl for wine and drank. 4 And what are you to me, Tyre and Sidon and all the districts of Philistia? Would you seek revenge against me? If you provoke me, I will quickly, swiftly bring your provocation back upon your own heads., 5 You who have taken my silver and my gold and carried off my most precious jewels to your temples, 6 you who sold the children of Judah and the children of Jerusalem to the sons of Javan, so that they would be driven away from their land. 7 I will make them rise from the place where you sold them and I will make your provocation fall back on your head. 8 I will sell your sons and daughters into the hands of the children of Judah, who will sell them to the Sabeans, to a distant people, for the Lord has spoken. 9 Publish this among the nations: Prepare the war. Raise up the valiant. Let them approach, let them come up, all the men of war. 10 Beat your plowshares into swords and your sickles into spears; let the weak say, "I am brave."« 11 Hasten and come, all you surrounding nations, and gather together. There, Lord, send down your brave men. 12 Let the nations arise and come up to the Valley of Jehoshaphat. For there I will sit to judge all the surrounding nations. 13 Put in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe; come, tread, for the winepress is full; the vats overflow, for their wickedness is great. 14 Crowds, crowds in the valley of decision. 15 The sun and moon grew dark and the stars lost their brightness. 16 From Zion the Lord will roar, from Jerusalem he will utter his voice; the heavens and the earth will tremble. But the Lord will be a refuge for his people, a stronghold for the children of Israel. 17 And you will know that I am the Lord your God, who dwells in Zion, my holy mountain; Jerusalem will be a sanctuary, and foreigners will no longer pass through it. 18 On that day the mountains will drip with new wine, the hills with milk, and all the streams of Judah will run with water. A spring will flow from the house of the Lord and water the Valley of Acacias. 19 Egypt will become a desolate land, Edom a desolate desert, because of the violence committed against the children of Judah, because they shed innocent blood in their land. 20 But Judah will be inhabited forever, and Jerusalem from generation to generation. 21 And I will wash away their blood, which I have not yet washed away. And the Lord will dwell in Zion.
Notes on Joel's book
1.2 Joel is addressing the inhabitants of Judah.
1.4 Saint Ephrem, Saint Jerome, and a great many commentators saw in these insects only a symbol of the pagan peoples: Assyrians, Medes, Persians, and Romans. But many modern scholars understand this invasion literally, relying primarily on the fact that the Prophet speaks only of the damage caused to the fields and the harm done to animals, not to people, whereas, if it had been a war, people would have suffered greatly, and Joel could not have avoided speaking of their tribulations. Moreover, all his words seem to refer to a past event, not a future one. The two opinions can be reconciled by admitting that Joel, in the second part of his Gospel, considers the historical invasion he spoke of in the first part as a type of God's approaching judgment.
1.6 a people ; the locusts, which ravage and destroy everything.
1.7 Grasshoppers also gnaw and devour the bark of trees.
1.8 bag, a rough and coarse garment worn in mourning.
1.13 Put on mourning clothes.
1.14 See Joel, 2:15.
2.1 Sound the trumpet! to encourage the people to do penance.
2.5 The locusts that ravage the countries exposed to their depredations by the myriads produce such a noise in their march.
2.7 They even penetrate into houses.
2.10 See Isaiah 13:10; Ezekiel 32:7; Joel 3:15; Matthew 24:29; Mark 13:24; Luke 21:25. The multitude of locusts is so considerable that it obscures the light.
2.11 Jer. 30, 7; Amos 5:18; Sophia. 1, 14-15.
2.13 See Psalms 85:5; Jonah 4:2.
2.15 See Joel, 1, 14.
2.20 «In our time,» says Saint Jerome, “we have seen swarms of locusts cover the land of Judea. When the wind arose, they were driven into the [Dead] Sea and the [Mediterranean] Sea. And as the shores of both seas were covered with the corpses of the dead locusts, which the waves had cast up, the result was a corruption and a stench so harmful that the air was corrupted and produced a plague that struck domestic animals and men.”
2.23 the doctor to teach you justice. Neither Joel, nor the high priest of that time, nor Isaiah or Jeremiah deserved this title like the Messiah, Jesus Christ, the true light "that gives light to every man coming into this world" (Jeans 1, 9).
3.1 See Isaiah 44:3. St. Peter reveals to us (see Acts of the Apostles, 2, v.16 and following) the fulfillment of the prophecy reported here and in the following verse in the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, upon the apostles and disciples of Jesus Christ.
3.1-5 These words can be applied to the signs that will precede the ruin of Jerusalem, according to Jesus' prediction (Luke 21, 11), but more particularly to those who will precede the final coming of the Savior, and of whom he also speaks (see Luke 21, v.25 s.). — See Joel 2:10; Matthew 24:29; Luke 21:25; Acts of the Apostles, 2, 20.
3-5 Whoever invokes, etc., refers indiscriminately to Jews and Gentiles, as St. Paul notes (Romans 10, 12-13). ― The remains, etc. A small number of Jews who called upon the name of the Lord, and who had preserved the memory of his worship in foreign lands, returned to Judea and found their salvation in Jerusalem. In this, they are a prefiguration of the faithful remnant whom God called from among the Jews in the establishment of the Church, and of the final remnant whom he will call, whether from the Jewish nation or from the pagan world, at the end of time.
4.1 In those days, in those times ; These expressions here, as in many other prophetic passages, do not refer to what immediately precedes them, but to the future, and usually to the time of the Messiah, coming into this world or judging all mankind at the end of time. Now, it is this final judgment that will be announced here in an enigmatic way.
3.2 The Valley of Jehoshaphat, The place mentioned only in this passage of Scripture does not appear to be a real place, but simply an enigmatic expression meaning the place where the Lord will judge, since the Church Fathers were by no means unanimous on the location of the general judgment, and the Church had made no decision on this point. My people, etc. The Chaldeans had scattered the Israelites and taken them captive beyond the Euphrates; the Tyrians, the Sidonians, the Philistines, and especially the Idumeans and other peoples had divided the lands of Israel and Judah and appropriated them during their absence and captivity.
4.8 The Sabians They may be those who lived deep in Arabia Felix.
4.13 See Revelation 14:15. — The time of vengeance is often expressed in Scripture under the idea of a harvest or a vintage.
4.14 Repetition which signifies a multitude.
4.15 See Joel, 2, vv. 10, 31.
4.16 See Jeremiah 25:30; Amos 1:2.
4.18 Amos, 9, 13; Joel 1, 5. What is said in this verse is a symbol and a figure of the Gospel doctrine, which was to come out of Jerusalem and spread into the pagan world, an ungrateful and thorny field.
4.19 Egypt was indeed devastated by Cambyses, then by Artaxerxes Ochus, and finally by Antiochus Epiphanes. — the Maccabees reduced Idumea to a terrible state (1 Maccabees 5, 65; 2 Maccabees 10, v.16 s.).
